Scenes from Japan: Tokyo, Kyoto, and Kamakura is a special coffee-table art book by artist Kendric Tonn. Designed and printed by Bookmobile, Scenes from Japan was funded through a Kickstarter campaign that reached its goal in less than half an hour after launch—and was 500% funded at the end of its first day!
Book design and typesetting
Kendric’s watercolor and ink paintings are the cornerstone of this collection. Each painting is accompanied by a narrative that helps bring the landscapes to life with additional context.
A priority of this design was giving ample space to the art while balancing the interwoven narratives. The text is set in 13/17 pt. Adobe Caslon Pro, with the headings and art info in Gill Sans Nova—a combination that compliments the context and Kendric’s art.
Printing
Bookmobile’s in-house print shop can produce paperbacks and hardcovers with a variety of features. We produced three unique editions for Scenes from Japan to fulfill the different Kickstarter orders: a paperback, a printed case hardcover, and a cloth hardcover with a slipcase.
All three editions are printed on our 100 lb. gloss-coated EuroArt Plus white paper, a great choice that helps give shine to the paintings. To help decide on the interior paper, we sent Kendric 10 pages of test prints to confirm that the paintings and colors would turn out as envisioned when we went to press.
The paperback edition was printed on our 12 pt. C1S (coated on one side) cover stock with matte lamination. The printed case hardcover edition has the case printed directly on the hardcover board, an economical hardcover book option.
The special edition hardcover with a slipcase is wrapped in navy Allure cloth with a tip-in (a printed image with lamination, adhered to a debossed area on a hardcover case) on the cover, with silver foil stamping on both the hardcover case and the slipcase.
The next volume of Scenes from Japan is in progress! Similar to the Tokyo, Kyoto, Kamakura edition in scope, the second volume will feature paintings from Chiba, Sapporo, and Masuda. Follow along by checking out the Kickstarter campaign!
Interested in learning more about our design and printing services? Contact us here!